The history of the writing of the Lord of the Rings continues from where the story left off in Return of the Shadow in front of Balin’s tomb; after some more backtracking the story continues on up to the point of the King of the Golden Hall chapter, and begins to take shape in earnest. It’s fascinating to see Tolkien’s creative process and the way in which he “discovers” the story as it forms. Once again I highly recommend listening along with the free Mythgard Academy course taught by Dr. Corey Olsen.

Do not confuse this book as only the Two Towers part of the History of Lord of the Rings, it actually covers a lot of Fellowship as well. It is very interesting to see the process and rejected story lines. There is also some description on the evolution of the map and some background on dwarf runes. I wish the footnotes had been published on the bottom of the page instead of the back of the chapter - I got really tired of flipping pages.

Like Return of the Shadow this was a lengthy book that gives a wide glimpse of the earlier drafts before the final version of the Lord of the Rings. It is very illuminating into the creative process, and quite interesting if you have a deep interest in the development of the story. I wouldn't read it if your interest is only casual.

Very detailed and fascinating history of the manuscripts of The Lord of the Rings, from later manuscript redrafts of the beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring through the Appendices. At times difficult to follow, this is a reference book and a look into J.R.R. Tolkien's writing process and apocrypha not included in the published Lord of the Rings.

Treason of Isengard: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 7) by J.R.R. Tolkien (2000)

F TOL hlotr pt.2
Fantasy

Most people have noted this is only for die-hard fans of Tolkien, and it is. I'd also argue it is for those who seriously want to explore Tolkien's writing process (I'd imagine these are die-hard fans, but could be academics as well).

The titles of each of the three History of the Lord of the Rings books are misleading in that this volume mostly addresses content from book 1 of LOTR and book 3, which I began today, mostly covers book 2.

Get past all that and you will gain tremendous insight into how the characters and storylines developed as Tolkien wrote and re-wrote.

Surprisingly, this one didn't correspond to the planning behind The Two Towers- I had expected each of the three volumes in this part of the larger History of Middle-earth to match up with the three volumes in LOTR. This one was not quite as exciting or informative as the last, and in starting the next in the series, that one looks a little more engaging, too. We'll see.

I wrote about the experience of reading all 12 of these volumes here: http://soundscryer.com/2011/06/13/chr... (part 1) and here: http://soundscryer.com/2011/12/02/chr... (part 2). Much more detail about the series in those two pieces.

These aren't novels. So be warned! They are rich with detail and fascinating as a look into the process of writing.

Much easier going than the first few books but still dry and academic.

"The Treason of Isengard: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part 2" in which the subject matter is written by J.R.R. Tolkien and the commentary by his son Christopher Tolkien is a fun, informative, glorious read.

We millions of die-hard Tolkien fans are fortunate to have Christopher Tolkien in the world to make his father's papers available to us. It is a great fortune that he has just the right educational background, inclination, and ambition to present them as he does in all of the "History of Middle-earth" books.

This particular volume covers a writing period spanning 1941-1942. He explains that this period of productivity on "The Lord of the Rings" started after LTR was unworked-on for over a year. Christopher Tolkien presents the narrative of the writing of LTR in the chronology of his father's writing rather than the chronology of the story of "The Lord of the Rings". The result is that episodes of the novel might appear multiple times and reappear later in Christopher Tolkien's telling of the writing of the novel if his father rewrote an episode in order to make his many changes.

To recap what is presented in "The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part 1" describes J.R.R. Tolkien's opening attempt to write a sequel to "The Hobbit". Throughout its evolution the story became darker. The Hero went through many name changes. He got to Rivendall before the first phase of writing ends.

"The Treason of Isengard: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part 2" shows the evolution of the hobbit character named Trotter as he changes into a man and becomes Aragorn. This evolution represents a change in the tale from being a hobbit tale to one about the beginning of the age of man. It takes practically the entire volume for Trotter to have completely and securely changed from being a hobbit into the man Aragorn.

The change of Trotter into Aragorn is representative of the many changes occurring throughout the writing of LTR. Earlier editions of the "Lord of the Rings" describe in their front matter how errors were corrected from previous editions. After seeing the fumbling way J.R.R. Tolkien went about discovering his story, the continuous changes in character names and persons, plus Tolkien's hurried pencil penmanship on used paper--it is amazing that a final draft came into being at all that would be acceptable to a publishing company. My point is that Christopher Tolkien's books leave me with no surprise that there were errors in the books long after their first publication.

"The Treason of Isengard" Begins with the secret council in Rivendell in which the forces of good decide what to do with 'The one ring.' A fellowship of 9 representatives of hobbits, men, dwarves, and elves begin their mission. By the end of Christopher Tolkien's volume the fellowship is broken up.

Two side discussions interrupt Christopher Tolkien's larger narrative. One is a description of an early, multilayer-ed map that his father drew during the late 1930s. The second is a presentation rune-lore material created by J.R.R. Tolkien.

"The Treason of Isengard: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part 2" is another worthy contribution to Christopher Tolkien's larger series on the "History of Middle-earth." The books are demanding. My recommendation is that a person try them if he or she is ready to set aside expectations and simply enjoy the ride as it is.

I have already read The Return of the Shadow, which is the first book in Christopher Tolkien's "History of The Lord of the Rings". That book covers the process of writing the Prologue through Balin's Tomb in Moria, with the Fellowship comprised of five hobbits and Gandalf. This book, The Treason of Isengard, backtracks significantly and begins with multiple takes on the Council of Elrond, where the nine final Fellowship members are chosen and ends with the first encounters with the Riders of Rohan. Apparenly Tolkien Sr. jumped ahead of himself with Frodo and Sam's storyline, writing about their Return of the King adventures in Cirith Ungol before he wrote about their Two Towers time spent with Gollum, Faramir, and Shelob, so that is what is included in this volume.

This book was probably written for a slightly more hardcore Tolkien scholar than I am, and that is really saying something because I am certainly no casual fan. I find that reading these Histories is like reading textbooks on a subject that you are fascinated by, while it is clear that the author knows far more than you ever will, and occasionally leaves you behind.

I read every page and footnote, but I will admit to skimming the chapters on the development of the map of Middle-Earth. I do not begrudge their inclusion however, because I am certain that there are those who are thrilled by them.

The best thing about these Histories is the fact that they lay bare J. R. R. Tolkien's writing process. I think my favorite aspect of these books is the man's exceedingly picky naming process. It seems that every character, from major to so minor that they are named only once, went through a series of different possible names. To me, they all seem equally good (with the exception of Bingo Baggins instead of Frodo) but Tolkien Sr. would cycle through two or three for just about everybody.

For example: Peregrin "Pippin" Boffin aka Trotter > Elfstone, son of Elfhelm > Ingold, son of Kelegorn > Aragorn, son of Kelegorn > Aragorn, son of Aramir > Aragorn, son of Arathorn

Another amazing aspect of the writing of The Lord of the Rings comes from Tolkien's devotion to a set calendar, complete with visible constellations and phases of the moon. Once the Felloship goes their separate ways, he had to keep all three sets of characters (1.Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn, 2.Merry and Pippin, 3.Sam and Frodo) on a synchronized timeline. This means that if he added a new part to Merry and Pippin's adventures he ahd to adjust the other two accordingly.

Here's a great quote:
"I began trying to write again (I would, on the brink of term!) on Tuesday, but I struck a most awkward error (one or two days) in the sychronization, v. important at this stage, of movements of Frodo and the others, which has cost labour and thought and will require tiresome small alterations in many chapters..."

Another:
"I have been struggling with the dislocated chronology of the Ring, which has proved most vexatious..."

Honestly these book are worth reading just for the "What if...?" moments, little notes in the margins like "Aragorn to wed Eowyn and unite kingdoms." or "Same dies destroying Gollum and Ring in Orodruin." Treebeard was originally an evil giant, and the Balrog of Moria was a shape-shifting Saruman. Craziness.

While The Treason of Isengard certainly highlights J. R. R. Tolkien's meticulous crafting of his epic, one shouldn't forget the immense amount of work that his son has put into collecting, ordering, and evaluating every detail in order to write it.

One more quote:
"I have long ceased to invent...: I wait till I seem to know what really happened. Or till it writes itself. Thus, though I knew for years that Frodo would run into a tree-adventure somewhere far down the Great River, I have no recollection of inventing Ents. I came at last to the point, and wrote the 'Treebeard' chapter without any recollection of previous thought: just as it is now."